CNN’s Joe Johns: Rush Limbaugh ‘Breathing Fire’

Photo of Matthew Balan.

Joe Johns, CNN Correspondent | NewsBusters.orgOn Friday’s Newsroom program, as CNN awaited Barack Obama’s first press conference as president-elect, correspondent Joe Johns outlined how Rush Limbaugh was apparently "back on the radio breathing fire, taking Obama and his now-named Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to the woodshed." He then played a clip of Limbaugh labeling Emanuel a "good old-fashioned Chicago thug, just like Obama is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug."

Limbaugh actually might not be the first to use the "Chicago thug" label for Obama. The Politico, in an August 27, 2008 article by John F. Harris, cited a "longtime associate" of a certain former Democratic president: "Bill Clinton believes the Democratic nominee, far from practicing a unifying, transformational brand of politics, has the political instincts of ‘a Chicago thug.’" CNN apparently was unaware of this report, since it wasn’t mentioned during the segment.

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

The short report by Johns, which aired 37 minutes into the 2 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program, aired as Obama was running late for late for his news conference, which had been due to start at the bottom of the hour. It was a partial rehash of an earlier report Johns did on Thursday evening’s Election Center program, which anchor Campbell Brown had introduced by labeling conservatives’ reaction to Obama’s pick of Emanuel "right-wing rage." Newsroom anchor Kyra Phillips made the following introduction to the new report from Johns: "If there was a honeymoon at all, well it’s so over. President-Elect Barack Obama already being slammed by some conservatives as a divider, not a uniter, and what has he done three days in to tick them off?"

The CNN correspondent then made his "breathing fire" introduction: "So much for Kumbaya -- hours after Barack Obama was elected, Rush Limbaugh, known on his show as the man who runs America, was back on the radio breathing fire, taking Obama and his now-named Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to the woodshed." He then played Limbaugh’s "Chicago thug" clip.

The full transcript of Joe Johns’ report from Friday’s Newsroom program:

KYRA PHILLIPS: If there was a honeymoon at all, well it’s so over. President-Elect Barack Obama already being slammed by some conservatives as a divider, not a uniter, and what has he done three days in to tick them off? Our Joe Johns investigated.

JOE JOHNS (voice-over): So much for Kumbaya -- hours after Barack Obama was elected, Rush Limbaugh, known on his show as the man who runs America, was back on the radio breathing fire, taking Obama and his now-named Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to the woodshed.

RUSH LIMBAUGH: He is [a] good old-fashioned Chicago thug, just like Obama is a good old-fashioned Chicago thug.

JOHNS: And it is true that around the conservative world, the selection of Emanuel, who is viewed as a tough, partisan street fighter, wasn’t exactly welcomed as a favorable sign. David Keene of the American Conservative Union.

DAVID KEENE, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: If you are a candidate who says that I am running a campaign because I want to bring people together and I want to build bridges, and then he tells you that he is going to go out to hire Rahm Emanuel to build the bridge, you would have some real questions about it. You might hire Rahm to blow up the bridge. I don't know if you’d hire him to build it.

JOHNS: The Republican National Committee pounced on Emanuel saying, ‘Our nation will be ill-served if Obama runs the White House the way "Rahmbo" ran the Democratic Congress.’ So if you were thinking the country is somehow unified, think again. There are still deep divisions. Just because the president-elect says he’s going to listen to conservatives, they say, doesn’t mean he’s going to govern from the middle.

LIMBAUGH: You can listen all day long and do nothing about it, right? There is no unity with Obama.

JOHNS: But make no mistake, conservatives are not just looking outward at the Democrats after the loss -- they’re looking inward, too. So what was it the voters really rejected?

JOHNS: (on-camera): Was it all about the Bush administration or was it, for example, that the party of smaller government and less spending on the Right had mushroomed the size of government and exploded the federal deficit?

KEENE: All those lines got blurred during the course of the last six or eight years. Republicans in Congress began to act like the Democrats that they’ve gotten rid off in the 90s. The president began to spend money like he was Lyndon Johnson, and the result was that voters began to get very upset. So, yes, you have to go back to your basics.

JOHNS (voice-over): And now, at least two years to think about how to do that. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Got to have demons

The manufacturing begins ... then the leftist silence opposition

Obamunism cannot survive with a free press.

You notice how FNC was not alowed to ask The One a question. Thuggery, vindictiveness, Chicago thugs one and all.

There is no diffence ?

There is no difference between saying someone has the "instincts" of an X, and saying they are an X?

You have the instincts of a Dark Ages absolutist theologian, bent on keeping us backwards and impoverished.

Oh, you KNOW the Republicans are faking it...

... when they try to prove a point by quoting William Jefferson Clinton.

That should have been everyone's dead giveaway before the Iraq War started.

who said

Who said there is no difference? Nobody. The point seems to be that if you want to say Limbaugh is "breathing fire" or whatever the CNN guy said, then you could/should admit that the Clinton associate's quote is at least breathing hot air or something....not just suggest that only Limbaugh is saying things like this.

If there is a difference ...

... then it wouldn't be fair to make a direct comparison between the two.

you made the comparison

The author of this article simply said "Limbaugh actually might not be the first to use the "Chicago thug" label for Obama." Balan made no "direct comparison" and didn't say Limbaugh said the same thing as the Clinton advisor. The point of the article was that CNN could have been more thorough in researching various opinions about Obama and been more forthcoming about where these kinds of opinions come from. What isn't "fair" is promoting the idea that only those on the right, or only Limbaugh, have a low opinion of Obama. The article was pretty straightforward. I don't know how it can be so hard to understand.

"You have the instincts of

"You have the instincts of a Dark Ages absolutist theologian, bent on keeping us backwards and impoverished."

I had no idea that you liberals believed in theology, however I do understand your need to keep everyone back in the dark ages. To liberals it's all about you!

Obama Teacher Shames North Carolina

 

 Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/  

Know Thy Enemy

I am a fundamentalist, orthodox, born-again Atheist. There is no god. Not existing means there can be no prophet, no son, and no prophet. Spokesperson is funnier than prophet.

Josh...You are a liar!

Josh...

You are a liar! What I see in you is a fundamentalist, orthodox, born-again ASSH*LE!

Obama Teacher Shames North Carolina

 

 Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/  

A liar?

What did I lie about?

Wow, that about says it

Wow, that about says it all.

Josh...Say Something Against Islam!! I Dare You!!

...Unless you are some Chicken Sh!T Liberal!!! 

You Bash Christians and Jews quite well.

Orrrr..the Enemy of Your Enemy is Your FRIEND??  If you say you have nothing against Islam...That makes you a ...Hypocrite??

Ster. 

Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government.

Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism...

... all dumb.

Josh SN....All Dumb

 

 

ROFL !!

.

all dumb...josh

oooooo joshy.....that's really mean!!

you proved the point.  you can't even put a full sentence together to jam another religion...just judeo-christianity.  you are a troll pal.  you won't last long here.....hopefully

 

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

Blonde...Am I Good or WHAT!!!

Just doin' my Job.

Troll-Sterminator!!!

Ster. 

Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government.

If the mission was derailment

I'd say mission accomplished.

taoism?

taoism?

The way

They believe in magic mushrooms on mountaintops that let one live forever. AKA dumb.

DUMB

AKA Josh SN

 

 

dumb redux

i did mushrooms on a mountain...i kind of thought that way for about 4-6 hours....30 years ago.  now i know how oregon ended up the way it has.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

Wish I'd thought of that!

Dumb redux...that is a much better title for my post, above.

 

 

Wiccan?    Making Fun

Wiccan?

 

 Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/  

I don't know enough about Witches

But I'm going out on a limb and saying they are dumb, too.

Josh SN

You do realize that 95% of the people on the planet disagree with you? How is it you are so enlightened? Sounds like you are an endangered species...

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Global

Global Warming?

 

 Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/  

No, that is, unfortunately, true enough

To call the thousands of IPCC scientists a "religion" makes the outrageous leap that they rely on faith, rather than evidence.

Josh SN, You might want

Josh SN,

You might want to read through our discussion over here.

Wrong again! Obama

Josh SN, it takes faith to

Josh SN, it takes faith to believe that you are correct.  Let folks believe what they will. It's none of your business what people believe in. 

I'd be willing to bet there is not one single person holding a gun to your head to believe or not believe.

All I know is you'll find out if you're right about 5 seconds after you keel over. 

In which case, you'd better be right.

They rely on neither faith

They rely on neither faith nor evidence.  Instead, they rely on hubris and peer pressure.  That makes them a cult.

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan

fitzfong.blogspot.com

Oh Josh...

Your answer to CT was:

"To call the thousands of IPCC scientists a "religion" makes the outrageous leap that they rely on faith, rather than evidence." 

NO, YOU DIDN'T!!

I'm glad I'm not you right now!!!

"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"

Palinism?

Palinism?

Isn't that YEC+Wicca?

Young Earth Creationism is dumber than dumb. Witch theory (according to that bishop in the video) is also pretty durn dumb.

I'm not certain that you

I'm not certain that you should ridicule "witch theory." I haven't seen her attacked, cursed, or otherwise bedazzled by a witch since that bishop's prayer.

This Atheism bit puzzles me..

Ok assuming neither side can prove the existence or non-exisence of God, why would anyone choose to poke his finger in God's eye not knowing one way or the other? Just seems dumb to me. I mean it is the biggest decision of your life after all, why not play it safe?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

 Rush is the only one who

 Rush is the only one who has been getting right. obama is cunning but he is not very intelligent. At least Rush authored his own books.

 

Who wrote Obama's books?

Who wrote Obama's books?

I heard the monologue

by Rush yesterday and he was describing Rahm Emmanuel stabbing a table with a knife at a function where he said he was going to retaliate.

Rush was rational and incredulous that Emmanuel would be the example of Obama administration bi-partisanship.

Quite so, NorthCoaster

And Campbell Brown, that genius from the MsM, tagged Rush's description as "Right Wing Rage" at Obama.  Go figure.

There's a whole thread here...I think it was Mark's, but you can find it by looking for Campbell's stupid smirk.

I can't wait until the media figures out they bought a whole bunch of nothing in Obama.....they're going to turn on him faster than a pack of rabid dogs.

 

 

This from another fire breather

This just shows that Rush has, with great courage I might add, painted a big target on his head - figuratively speaking.  If the Fairness Doctrine or the FCC doesn't get him then some Leftist wacko nut will (lawyers are being interviewed for this task as we speak).  Everything, without exception, that Rush says will be shown as extremely ''hateful'' and totally unfit for the ''airwaves''.  If he is shoved over to satellite radio then watch that outlet change from being private to public and then . . . . well, needless to say, the attack on our First Amendment 'right' had taken off.  Rush is the most obvious target.

Hold on to your Second Amendment, we're in for a bumpy ride.

I said that

Obama got Elected that he would go after Rush with the Fairness Doctrine.people have no clue what it is until I have to explain to them about it and what Obama wants to do.

 

 

 

Go WVU 

Never vote for Byrd

Doktor

Rush may be the obvious target, but the libs will take him on to their eternal chagrin.

Remember Dingy Harry's little shot at Rush....Maha Rushie totally bent him and humiliated him....and I expect nothing less if they try to take Rush on over the Fairness Doctrine.

Rush will make a laughing stock out of all comers.

Just goes to show how stupid these leftists are, taking on the big dog first. 

 

Blonde

Yeah, you would think that it's stupid (which group of people does that word remind you of?) to take on Rush but by next February they just might have the votes to do it without too much of a hassle.  I mean really, it is, after all, a 'Fairness' Doctrine, isn't it?  What could be more Fair than something called Fairness?  </sarc> And they'll do it like they did to Bush - like a pack of hyennas nipping at a, much more powerful, lion's nuts.  (The lion is more powerful - not the lion's nuts.)  A nip here and a nip there and pretty soon the lion is driven off.  (Yet, my money is on the great MahaRushie's balls.)

The fight will be long and messy but there just may be enough of us (which, I dunno, is doubtful considering the election) to ward off this attack on our First Amendment.  Some Liberals may even cross over for this one.  This will become more historically important than voting in a halfrican for President.

BTW - How are the ocean levels?

BTW - How are the ocean levels?

sorry the rest of your post, although probably true, depresses me. Having said that, are they shrinking? I mean really isn't there a loss of atmosphere to space? And where does water evaporation go? I am guessing, the atmosphere?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

My Apologies, MM

I did not mean to depress anyone - really.  I just get feelings and, on occasion, I express them.  The ocean level thing was a joke - when 0bama said it and when I just wrote it.

Truly, though, this 'Fairness Doctrine' will be a landmark in America's history - at least the way the Left will interpret it, that is.  We all know that's there is nothing fair about it but if the Enlightened Ones think it will shut Rush up then guess where the support's going to fall?

If anyone saw South Park this week then you know that there is an extreme to the fear of Hussein's presidency.  There is also the truth to his past that I am factoring into my 'feelings'.  (His new Chief of Staff is merely the start.)  There are certain people who cannot, or will not, change overnight.  Hussein is one of them.

 

Conservatives fight evil.  Liberals fight Global Warming.

No worries DoktorFranken!

I didn't hear the Obama thing.. and then in my own "trying to think through the logic" way, pulled the "atmosphere out to space" thing out of my...er...um... is it true? Is the Earth bleeding atmosphere out? 

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Great Ceaser's Ghost!

Will we find a bandage large enough?  Start collecting Cotton Credits NOW!

 

 

Every now and again I feel a sharp pain in my butt.  But it's only a tack and I pull it out. - Not Jack Handey but an amazingly terrible simulation

Karl Rove was correct on Obama

Barack Obama is a product of Chicago thug politics, but Mr. Limbaugh needs to explain Obama is not the thug Emanuel is.

Obama is the don who is not a made man. Obama is the perfect definition of Karl Rove made of him in, Obama is the cig smoking smart alec leaning up against the wall at the club, smirking at the lesser types while he has some hot blonde on his arm for decoration nodding at the husbands whose wives he has bedded belittling them.

This rich Obama always attracts the thug like Emanuel to do Obama's dirty work as he is too much the woman to mix it up.

People saw in the millions in how John McCain slapped Obama around and he pouted with that sheen of humiliation. Obama knows he is not man enough like the brat who inherits a don's mafia empire, so he brings in a tough Jew as an enforcer.

Rham Emanuel is that enforcer and Mr. Limbaugh pegged him exactly as Emanuel screamed out DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD and drove a knife into a table of the people who betrayed the Clintons.

Emanuel is the thug to scare the hell out of Pelosi and Reid, who are about 2 days from declaring themselves Congressional king and queen of their dynasty as people forget, Congress is the show in America and they dislike Presidents right or left, messiah or not.

This is the bloodfest of Obamerica and has already brought in the worst element of the Clinton clique.
I will mension the rumors that Rham Emanuel is Mossad like most well placed Jews with the terrorist past his family has. I have no qualms about Mossad as they are going to need someone in the Obama administration to deflect George Soros and the markers which will be called in for 300 million dollar bribe Obama.

I warned here and on my blog that these Middle East counterfeit currency and credit card fraud mafia funnelled into America 300 million at least in bogus donations to Obama.
AMERICAN BANKS which issue that credit on cards is now left holding the bag on this for a real disaster even though the books all show a balance. It can not balance as that 300 million at least never existed.

These are real thugs just like the real thugs Clinton was importing that dumped Vince Foster at Fort Marcy Park when Foster yelled about them stealing his millions as a bag man.

Clinton had to allow terrorists to have free run and that included bin Laden due to the Saddam money laundering. In addition due to Chicom donations Clinton gave up massive US technology which included nuclear codes and US military protocols.

Obama now has a 300 million dollar debt from real thugs. These thugs are interested in diamonds, oil, dead Jews, dead competitors in the Middle East, opium, meth and human traffic.

Rham Emanuel can be the biggest Chicago thug on the planet with Mossad backing, but last time I checked even Israeli agents get picked off one by one for cleaning up the Munich terror strike by the PLO.

There are bigger thugs Mr. Obama has sold himself and that means America out to. They are in Europe and I will write soon the Lord willing on the payment they will extract from each of us, except Warren Buffett and that nation rapist crew.
They also are in the Middle East and protected by the central Europeans for the black market commerce, so Obama will pay when he is told to pay. It might be dead Jews. It might be turning Iraq over to a new Saddam. It might be Russians taking over US bases.

Yes the Russians are involved in this too, along with a very ticked off Serbian lot who are ticked off at Bush and Obama leading them right into Russia.

I feel sorry for Mr. Emanuel as he is just like David Axelrod going to be selling out Jewish people, just like their types sold out Jews in Poland to the European highest bidder.

So wonderful 75% of Jews led by meathead Reiner voted their lives away for Obama's debt to their mortal enemies. Rham can't stop it and if he makes too much of a problem, he will end up like the Munich crew as Vince Foster was a statement that the mafia that runs this world is even bigger than David Rockefeller's boy Bill.

There is something very strange going on in the Rockefeller clique has disappeared and it is all this second city thuggery backed by Europeans.

Never thought I would say this, but America was better with Grandpa David shearing the sheep, because this new Obama bunch is pulling the wool out by the roots and haven't yet begun to get nasty.
Problem is Obama is a pimp and Rham Emanuel has not yet dreamed up the nasty his Obama buyers out of the Middle East and Europe dine on daily with pleasure.

 

agtG

 

 

*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

Yes, that fiery

Yes, that fiery common-sense-truth, hot indeed if you're a weak kneed liberal.

///The people have spoken!/// INDEED. Slightly over half don't have a CLUE what they spoke for. Enjoy the process as these people slowly get CLUES over a 4yr period.